Girls - Why you shouldn't use scales

Errr are we looking at the same picture?
There certainly isn't a "giant later of fat over everything". Yes she has a little bit more fat on her body, but to say what you did is totally exaggerating it and makes me think there is no wonder why many girls feel so much pressure to be unhealthily thin.

Then you are a ridiculous person. And by the sound of it you'll have a lot to worry about when you hit 40.
If you prioritise health then you'll always be more attractive because health and attractiveness comes hand in hand. That's probably why most girls are turned off my men who pump themselves with steroids. It's not natural or healthy.
I'm sorry but I can't believe you're so vain! Do you have any respect for your body and well being?
Why do you care so much about looking good? Insecure?

OP i understand your point fully, and it goes for men too, a colleague of mine was struggling to pass his personal fitness test and all he ever went on about was loosing weight.

Oh i can't do weights I'm trying to lose weight
Oh i can only eat 1000 calories a day I'm trying to lose weight
Oh I will only workout in the fat burning zone I'm trying to lose weight

SOME Young people don't care ahout their health, your right there. But an increasing number of us do. Health is a big thing for me. I see It as, if my body is as healthy as I can make It, then my physical appearance is whatever it happens to be. If I was unhappy with the appearance Id try to do more exercise and strength and things, but I wouldn't put my health at risk.

That is pretty damn stupid

"I can't do weights, I'm trying to lose weight" is the silliest thing ever. So what if you weigh the same as some fat guy if you're well built and tall?

Yup and i raised this point to him, but whenever i did he got very touchy, 'uh we can't all be born with mong strength, you can't even run that fast yourself your only just under 10 minutes' etc etc

The difference being he weighed the same as me, i am 6 ft 4 he couldn't have been any taller the 5 10 and maybe shorter, and i could actually pass the most basic of fitness test.

Some people just don't like taking advice, they see it as criticism, this idea that high weight = bad and low weight = good has been so thoroughly engrained into us that even hearing the truth from trained professionals won't change some peoples minds.

The point is that most of the reason she has an entirely unmuscular appearance is because there is a giant layer of fat over everything. That would suggest to some that she's holding on to a little more insulation than is necessary, and those people would view her as more attractive if she lost an inch or two of it. I tend to agree, but again it's personal preference, to a degree. However we are way too used to flab in this country so we rush to the front of debates with comments about it being a 'softer' look and using circular logic about it being ok because it's less fat than average... so people don't exercise or control their diets so the average doesn't come down and we all continue to be content with being inactive, not to mention podgy and thus self-conscious when naked.

I agree with some of what you're saying & sometime obese people are defended & use the word "curvy" etc. to make it positive when they are in fact damaging their health.

However, the girl on the left certainly doesn't have a "gaint layer of fat over everything". Women need some body fat in areas such as their hips & bust for fertility purposes but apart from that, people harp on about how more people are becoming obese which is completely true however it is things like this thread that lead to eating disorders when people exagerate how much body fat she has & make out that shes completely unhealthy & shouldn't let her body get in such a state, oh dear thats what media does :/.

Just think back to well anything before the 90's & yes there wasn't as many obese people but people weren't half as obsessed about body image as now.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC Desire

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I'm not a fan of the 'risk of eating disorder' line; I advocate exercise and a healthier diet in order to reduce body fat and increase muscle definition, however little that may be - many women don't wish to look muscular but still aspire to look like women who have a greater amount of muscle than them, whether or not they realise that it's the muscle mass that's playing a role in making the person look better is another matter. I don't advocate anyone changing their body in a way that would constitute a disorder. I don't think weight loss should occur without exercise and I don't really believe in extensive calorie restriction either. Slowly and surely wins the 'race'. It's about changing your lifestyle and habits to lead to a healthier (and most likely more attractive) person.

I've always been below what the BMI chart says what is healthy, always been underweight my how life. But from the age of 12 have had periods every month.

But surely you must realise that telling people they should lose weight when they really don't need to and saying someone is fat when they really are not are exactly the things that cause eating disorders?

But surely you must realise that telling people they should lose weight when they really don't need to and saying someone is fat when they really are not are exactly the things that cause eating disorders?

Nowhere did I say the person should lose weight and nowhere did I call them fat.

I talked about the layer of fat on her hips. Are you now going to deny she has fat on her hips?

Some people would find her more attractive if she lost some of the fat on her hips.

She probably would too

I wouldn't care if she put on 30kg while losing some of that fat. It's got nothing to do with weight. Weight means very little. And if people don't bother reading most of my post and ignore the part about eating healthily and doing exercise and not focusing so much on calorie restriction, they're reading what the want to read and are in deep enough to have the eating disorder in their head already, even if they haven't translated that into unhealthy weight loss. That is not my doing, that is the general ignorance about health and weight that pervades British society.

I think the whole point of the thread though is that in order to lose the fat, the girl wouldn't have to lose weight. Girls think to lose their belly and wobbly bits they have to lose weight and this is not necessarily the case, especially with smaller girls like the ones in the OP.

But why does the girl have to?
She looks perfectly healthy.
Having some fat is healthy. Its only unhealthy if you have too much of it.
Telling people that they should change their diet and exercise more and lose fat when they don't need to is dangerous, and its why we have people who have eating disorders who will never be happy with themselves.

But why does the girl have to?
She looks perfectly healthy.
Having some fat is healthy. Its only unhealthy if you have too much of it.
Telling people that they should change their diet and exercise more and lose fat when they don't need to is dangerous, and its why we have people who have eating disorders who will never be happy with themselves.

But why does the girl have to?
She looks perfectly healthy.
Having some fat is healthy. Its only unhealthy if you have too much of it.
Telling people that they should change their diet and exercise more and lose fat when they don't need to is dangerous, and its why we have people who have eating disorders who will never be happy with themselves.

Yeah I know for a lot of girls it stays, but, particularly for athletes who train a lot and have a body fat percentage of 2-10%. Then there's female athlete triad syndrome (disordered eating, amenorrhoea, osteoporosis) which complicates things.
I suppose for people who tend to stay at a low fat % their entire life, their bodies are fine and they get periods, but for those who actively lower their body fat percentage, it becomes more of an issue.